Meet Ceci Haha | Trilingual Actress

We had the good fortune of connecting with Ceci Haha and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Ceci, what led you to pursuing a creative path professionally?
I have always loved art ever since I was a child because I get to express myself freely through art, you can be whoever you what to be and at the same time, you can be YOURSELF.

Growing up I was struggling in school, I was far from being best in class, and I would get in trouble by being “different”. I liked to think out of the box and I liked to do things creative ways. Being in a Catholic all-girls school in Hong Kong, I had to follow certain rules like you have to wear your hair up without covering your eyebrows and face, you cannot wear earrings that are bigger than 3mm, the length of your uniform has to be 2 inches below your knee, and etc.; I had to think in the way the school wanted me to think and I felt trapped because I was not allowed to be who I was; until I joined Musical Theatre. When I am performing on stage, I could put my creativity into use, and I could finally be ME! And since I first set foot on stage, I had decided that’s what I wanted to do in the future — to become an actress.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
I moved to Los Angeles from Hong Kong on my own in 2015 for a summer acting program. I was supposed to go back to HK when the program is over, but I just decided to stay and pursue my acting dream after the course. It’s been 7 years and now I think I can call myself a LA Local 🙂

In Chinese culture, being an artist is very difficult. Family and people around you will always question your career choice or even put shame on you for not bringing enough money home. Then you start to doubt yourself as well, and the stress can be unbearable sometimes. I am so grateful that my family and friends have been so supportive and understanding since day 1. Leaving my family in Hong Kong and living in America alone is definitely not easy, espeically with the pandemic, I haven’t seen my family and friends for almost 3 years. Many times I thought of moving back to Hong Kong, then find a stable job with steady income, so I can bring home some decent money and forget about my dream. But they reminded me the reason why I came here 7 years ago — I came here to share my story and do what I am passionate about — acting.

Two years ago, I wrote, directed and acted in my first produced short film — @IG_L1FE, it’s about a girl living in her unrealistic social media life, losing herself in the pursue of “likes” and “followers” and struggling to get out of her Instagram persona. When I was writing this story, I realized that people dwell into Instagram/TikTok too much, especially for younger generations. And I wanted to let people know that social media is NOT everything, and our worth and value is not determinded by how many likes and follwoers we have. After publishing this film, I took a long social media break myself and I felt great! I spent some time to reconnect to myself and I had more time to read, take walks and do outdoor activities, and now I have a different approach to utilize my social media. Also, I am so glad that this film resonates with a lot of people and use it as a little reminder that they don’t need social media to validate themselves as a person. I’m really proud of my first project and I’m writing another story about the dynamic between Chinese and Latinx culture and I’m looking forward to sharing it with y’all!

(Link to my short film — https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eJSJdrTXcIA)

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
Monday AM: breakfast @GEOFFREY’S and chill at Malibu Beach Monday PM: dinner @Cobi Santa Monica
Tuesday AM: hike @Runyon Canyon and lunch @The Butcher, The Baker, The Cappuccino Maker, walk around Hollywood Blvd
Tuesday PM: sunset @The Griffin Observatory, dinner @Pine&Crane in Silverlake
Wednesday AM: boat ride in Marina Del Rey
Wednesday PM: live music @The Penmar Venice, dinner @Scopa Italian Roots
Thursday AM: breakfast @4th Street Market in Santa Ana
Thursday PM: Disneyland Park + Disney California Adventure Park and have dinner in Downtown Disney District
Friday AM: brunch @Calabra (The Proper Hotel) and walk around Third Street Promenade and Santa Monica Pier
Friday PM: outdoor theatre @Santa Monica Airport and dinner @KazuNori in Santa Monica and grab a drink
Saturday AM: brunch @Gran Blanco and walk around Abbott Kinney and Venice Beach
Saturday PM: go to a magic show @Black Rabbit Hole in Hollywood and go to @The Abbey in WeHo for a night out
Sunday AM: Smorgasburg –> Grand Central Market –> Last Book Store at Downtown LA
Sunday PM: grab a drink @Apothéke & get dinner @Otium in Downtown LA

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I am so grateful for my first theatre teacher — Miss Maria Mong, she discovered my talent before I even knew I had it in me. I knew nothing about acting/singing, though I always liked to do little talent shows in front of my family(just like every other kid), I never thought more of it until she asked me to audition to join the musical theatre group in school. She is such a talented artist, she used to write scripts, songs, and even raps for our plays and also choreographed the numbers in all the musicals. She showed me the importance of rehearsals, I used to train every day before or after school for hours. And as a kid, I did not think how much it helped me to toughen up as a grown-up. When I was in college, everyone was complaining how much we had to rehearse, I was very used to practicing daily and took all the rehearsals seriously, because every single rehearsal counts, and you always have room to improve yourself. And thanks to Miss Mong, I was prepared for a busy reehearsing schedule and I was always the first ones to be “off-book”. I would like to use this opportunity to thank her, not only for helping me to become a better artist but also giving me a chance to find myself.

Website: www.cecihaha.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ceci.haha/

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC4MnwU-YDih5TRG4TxVCJWg

Image Credits
Elizaveta Dirat, Jeff Ellingson